Places: The Power and the Glory

*Mexico. Power and the Glory, TheCountry in which the entire novel is set. The novel uses psychological realism to depict the corruption and violence associated with the government’s revolutionary vision. That vision is portrayed by an unnamed police lieutenant, who considers himself the champion of hope and betterment and says that “life will never be the same” for the next generation as he pursues a fugitive priest.

In contrast, the priest is engaged in a survival struggle to bring continuity into the spiritual lives of Mexicans who are eager to extend their vision beyond their physical and material needs. Since the Mexican police have advertised a reward for the priest, Greene shows how the theme of trustworthy relationships can sustain hope in a corrupt and threatened environment.

Plaza. Central square of an unnamed Mexican city where a bust of a former president serves as a reminder of Mexican Revolution and the nation’s independence. The plaza leads to the river port that offers the priest an opportunity to escape to Vera Cruz on the coast. However, the priest’s decision to share a drink with Mr. Tench, then a child’s summons to his mother’s deathbed, supersede his original plan of escape. In the conclusion, the plaza becomes the site of the priest’s execution after the Mexican police arrest him.

Hotel. Hotel beside the river to which a beggar leads the disguised priest for a secret drinking party with a high government official and the governor’s cousin. The government officer is clearly corrupt; he violates the prohibition law and symbolizes the internal corruption of a regime that is claiming reform through a revolutionary vision. For his part, the priest himself does not mirror the traditional acts of martyrs or saints whose stories are passed on to the Mexican children. He is an alcoholic who has violated his vow of celibacy and has an illegitimate daughter; however, he manages to dodge the authorities and continue to perform the religious rites that strengthen the Catholic population’s hope in the future.

Prison. Unsanitary and overpopulated prison in the city to which the priest is taken when he is arrested for possessing alcohol. The next morning he meets the lieutenant, who does not know his clerical status. The lieutenant discharges him and gives him money as a compassionate gesture for having cleaned up the filthy prison cells. Ironically, while the priest is in the prison, the half-caste recognizes him as a priest but conceals the discovery, so he can acquire the reward without having to share it with the prison authorities.

Plantation. Banana farm owned by an American where the priest finds a shelter and food. There, the planter’s daughter Coral secretly brings the priest brandy and keeps him hidden when the police lieutenant comes looking for him. However, when the priest returns to the plantation a second time, he finds that it has been ransacked, apparently by revolutionaries known as the Red Shirts.

Rural church. Whitewashed village church where the exhausted priest passes out and is rescued by German American missionaries, who prepare him for a journey to a safer destination, Las Casas. Before his departure the priest holds a mass for the parish, who also request baptisms and confessions. Apparently, the villagers are so poor that they bargain with the priest over the price of religious ceremonies, yet none seems interested in the reward money for handing over the priest.